Thirty-three remain missing a week after hospital bombing

Thirty-three people remain missing almost a week after a U.S. airstrike on a hospital in Afghanistan, Agence France-Presse reports.

“We cannot speculate on their whereabouts,” Doctors Without Borders said in a statement Thursday about the missing, who include nine patients and 24 staff.

The group fears the death toll from the bombing could rise significantly.

{mosads}Last weekend, a U.S. airstrike hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the city of Kunduz in Afghanistan. Ten patients and 12 staff members have been confirmed dead by the humanitarian organization.

Doctors Without Borders has set up a hotline to try to find the missing. It said unidentified bodies could still be in the hospital, but cannot confirm that due to lack of security in the area.

The Taliban overran Kunduz last week, and while the Afghan government said it has taken back most of the city, fierce fighting continues.

Doctors Without Borders has called the bombing a war crime and demanded an independent investigation by a commission set up under the Geneva Conventions.

President Obama personally called the head of the charity this week to apologize, but Doctors Without Borders is pressing for the investigation. 

Three investigations are already underway by the Pentagon, NATO and Afghan officials.